Long Beach school board seeks feedback on later class time proposal

LONG BEACH - The Long Beach Unified Board of Education has set a date to consider a controversial decision to start all high schools an hour later next school year.

High schools in the Long Beach Unified School District currently start the day between 7:45 and 8 a.m. The proposal would push back the start time to 8:45 to 9 a.m. and school would then end an hour later at about 3:45 p.m.

The board will discuss the proposal in its regular meeting on Jan. 29 and is set to make a final decision on the matter in February.

For now, the LBUSD is asking parents for their feedback by filling out an online survey available through Jan. 11 on the district's website.

The district also is considering smaller schedule changes at some elementary, K-8 and middle schools to better coordinate bus transportation.

District officials first discussed the idea in November due to research that suggests teens perform better academically when they start school later. To access the online survey go to the district website, lbschools.net or http://tinyurl.com/ccfghl6.